Smile Like You Mean It
by stephiepoodle
Summary: It's not easy being a child prodigy, but it is significantly easier when you have someone by your side. Sydney Henderson and Pavel Chekov are in the same boat on that one. The two of them go through eveything together! Even the battles of life and love.
1. Starfleet Wants You!

I remember a man coming to my house in Arizona, asking to speak to my father. That man was Captain Christopher Pike. My father had often told me stories about the two of them in what he called his "Glory Days". I guess they were pretty good friends back then. That wasn't the first time I had met him though. Our first encounter was when I was really young, but I don't really remember it. My dad said that I was three at the time and had taken a fondness to him. I kept showing off how smart I was the duration of the visit. He had told my dad that I was going to be a wonderful Starfleet officer some day. Who knew that opportunity would come when I was only thirteen:

The doorbell rang, and like usual, I ran to go answer it. When I opened the door a burst of hot summer air flooded our nicely air conditioned home. The man standing there was tall and handsome in an older guy kind of way. His eyes were blue and wise looking, skin slightly tanned, and like my dad, his hair was starting to gray a little bit. He was dressed in a Starfleet uniform. It fit him perfectly, like he was the poster child of the peacekeeping and humanitarian armada himself.

"Hello there. I'm Captain Christopher Pike." He extended his hand for me to shake, so I took it. His handshake was firm, and intimidating, just like a captain's ought to be. "Is your father home?"

"Yes sir. Hold on a second." I left the door open and ran upstairs to go find him, but he wasn't there. I tried the living room, the kitchen, and even the backyard, and he was nowhere to be found. I was heading back to the front door to go tell Captain Pike that he must have slipped out, and to come back later when I passed the living room again. The two of them were just sitting in there, Captain Pike on the couch and my dad in his wheelchair, chatting away. I didn't even hear the front door close.

My dad saw me, and motioned for me to come in. When I got to him he asked me a favor. "Sweetheart, can you go play outside or go to Sam's house for a little bit? We need to discuss grown up stuff for awhile." Captain Pike was serious, and I could see the change in my dad's demeanor too.

I went to the back yard, not really wanting to leave and go to my friend's place with this stranger in my house. I was out there for maybe an hour when my dad asked me to come inside. I pulled up a chair from the kitchen and sat next to my dad.

The Captain spoke first. "Sydney Henderson, I would like to enroll you in Starfleet Academy."

Whoa! I didn't even get a "How was your day, you are such a smart little youngster, you look just like your father". You know, a normal conversation starter. Nope, this man meant business.

I'll admit it, I kind of freaked out a little bit." Excuse me? I'm only thirteen! I thought you had to be at least seventeen or eighteen to enlist! Are you crazy?"

He chuckled, "Yes to the first, and more than likely yes to the second. However, my dear, you're special. I have seen your entrance exam scores. You perform at a higher level than even some of our graduates. Your level of intelligence is phenomenal! At the rate you're going now you could graduate from the academy at seventeen, _and _have your pick of starships to serve on. You could have a promising career, and who knows, even be the captain of your own vessel in another three to four years. I'll give you a few days to think it over if you wish."

"I only took that exam, because I was bored and my dad wanted to see how well I would do!"

"Well as you can see, you performed fantastically." You could tell he was actually impressed. That made me happy...somewhat.

That set my mind into overdrive. All of the possibilities. Not only could I get away from all of the idiots I went to school with here, but I could be the Captain of a shiny new ship in about eight years!

I looked at my dad. You could tell that he wanted me to do it. Should I have thought it through? Probably. Did I? No sir, I did not. "Done."

Pike's expression went from one of hope to confusion in a millisecond. "What?"

"It sounds like a good deal. I'll do it."

"Just like that? Are you sure you don't want to think it through first? You are looking at four years of studying advanced subjects with people years older than you. Having to grow up faster than you probably should. Are you ok with that?"

"Yes sir. I am."

The next few days went by _so_ slowly. Calls were made, paperwork was filled out, regulations were checked, tests performed, background checks were done. I had never received that much attention in my whole life.

My friend Sam didn't know how to feel about the situation. He was excited for me, but upset that I was leaving him behind. When I told him that I would be back for the summer it was a little easier for him.

At the same time it all happened so quickly. My life was starting over, for the better this time. I was leaving for Starfleet in the morning.

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><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

**This is my first fanfic, so reviews are appreciated! :D This is sort of an introductory chapter. It will get more interesting. Like why is her father in a wheelchair? Read on my lovelies, and you will find out in time! **


	2. The Rumors Are Confirmed

Saying goodbye to my dad wasn't nearly as dramatic as I thought it would be. Then again, I had done all of my crying the night before.

The shuttle was crowded with people, and the only seat open was next to a very nice looking older girl. I sat next to her, and she immediately smiled, and started talking to me. "You must be Sydney Henderson. Am I right?"

I nodded. How the heck did she know my name?

"Good! I've been saving this seat for you for the past two stops. I was beginning to think you bailed!" She laughed. It was a sweet, musical sound. "My name is Angelica Fri; Captain Pike wants me to be your roommate. He thinks we will get along fine."

Well that explains why she knew my name.

"Just stick by me, and you should be fine, sweetie. There is another kid your age, too! You'll have to meet him. I heard he's from Russia, but you can never trust rumors. Anyway…"

The rest of the ride continued the same way, with Angelica talking my ear off. She was from Texas, and had the accent to match. Her red hair was pinned up, but you could still tell it was super curly. She was tanned and slender, and beautiful. It was kind of unfair, but then again, I was only thirteen. Maybe one day I would be a beautiful as her.

I heard a voice somewhere threatening to throw up on someone. That would be so gross! He continued to talk about how dangerous space was. Counting on his fingers, he started naming all of these exotic sounding space diseases. Poor guy, Starfleet operates in space. It was definitely not the best choice for an aerophobic or astrophobic. By the sound of this guy, he was both. I bet he is a-

"Hey, Syd, we're here."

I was jerked out of my train of thought. When I looked out my window I could see all the hustle and bustle of the shuttle bay. There were new cadets everywhere. It was chaos, but it was organized chaos. During orientation we got a folder with more papers we needed to sign and turn in to their respective teachers. It also had class schedules, a map, and a few other things. We also got uniforms and a PADD. It felt like I was in that auditorium _forever_.

Finally we were set loose to find our rooms and enjoy the rest of the day. The map I found on my PADD was _way_ more detailed than the paper one they gave us. With it we would be able to find our room easily. We were turning a corner when I hit something rock hard. Before I could drop my stuff someone steadied me, and kept me from dropping my belongings. I looked up, and standing before me was this tall, very attractive, blue eyed guy. Holy crap, his eyes were pretty!

"Woops, sorry! I'm Jim, Jim Kirk."

"It's ok. I'm Sydney Henderson and this is my roommate Angelica Fri." If you listened hard enough you could hear his flirt switch flip to the "on" position.

"Nice to meet you ladies." He took Angelica's hand and kissed it. She blushed and smiled in return.

Another guy came around the corner, but this one was taller and older. He looked like he had a kid or two, must be an instructor…in street clothes? Took me a minute, but I soon recognized him from the shuttle ride. He was the guy talking about space, and throwing up. He took one look at me and raised an eyebrow. "Kid, how old are you?"

I stood up a little straighter. "Thirteen sir."

"Christ! I have a daughter your age!" His eyes looked sad. "When the time comes to get vaccinated, you come see me. I'll make sure you get _everything_ you will need." This fatherly air surrounded him. It made me miss my dad.

"C'mon Bones. That's not how you introduce yourself to two ladies. What have I taught you?" He faked an astonished look. It was hard not to laugh.

"Dammit Jim, I'm a doctor, not Casanova!" He grabbed Jim by the shoulder, "Have a nice day", and off they went down the hall. Jim made sure to wink at Angelica when he passed.

When we got to our room, Angel, a new nickname I came up with for Angelica, plopped down on the bed closest to the door. "Well, that was nice." Her face was still a little red from our encounter. "That doctor guy is kind of grumpy though."

"Really? I like him! You can tell he has been through some stuff. He reminds me of my dad." I took a few pictures on my PADD for future reference, before sitting on the edge.

"Nice Sydney." Angel said sitting up.

"What? _I'll_ be the one who knows how to make my bad in the morning. You, however, will not." I stuck my tongue out at her. I laughed and started playing with my PADD. "Whoa! You can send messages on this thing!" I held it out and pointed to the touch screen. Angel giggled and stared at the clock.

"It's almost time for lunch. We should probably get into our uniforms and head down to the mess hall."

My stomach rumbled in response. "Yeah."

I got into my uniform, and I automatically felt awesome. My uniform was nice and pressed. The red fabric smelt so new and fresh; I really didn't want to get it dirty. Angel taught me how to put my hair in a perfect bun. Looking at myself in the mirror, my appearance was nice and polished. My dark brown hair was out of my face, and the red girls uniform looked good with the cool regulation boots I was issued. This was really happening. I mean, we were only going to lunch, but I was here. I was in Starfleet.

Down in the mess hall we found a table partially hidden in a corner, so we could establish a game plan for the start of classes tomorrow. We had most of our basic core classes together, so we had set up a few meeting places.

We were right in the middle of routing an efficient path to class when a voice came out of nowhere.

"Excuse me, but can we sit here?" We looked up in unison, and standing in front of us was an Asian guy about Angel's age. He was pretty tall and had black hair. His almond shaped eyes were brown, and he looked like he could either kick your ass or give you a fantastic hug. "I'm Hikaru Sulu. This is Pavel Chekov."

Behind him was a young man, and when I say young man, I mean that he was my age! He was a bit taller than me of course. _Everyone_ is taller than me here it seems.

"Privet." He said waving a little with this huge smile on his face. Yep, the rumors have been confirmed. He really was Russian. His smile faded when he saw our confused looks. He looked like he was mentally punching himself in the face over, and over, and over again. "I sorry! Vhat I meant t' say vas 'ell-o." He was tripping over his s's, and his accent was thick, but I could understand what he was saying.

I giggled and looked at Angle. "Fine with me."

"Go right ahead!" She cleared her stuff out of the way and tapped the table.

Pavel ended up sitting right across from me, letting me take in his features a little better. His big innocent eyes were shockingly green, contrasting to my brown ones, and his face had a light dusting of freckles on slightly fair skin. Pavel's hair was curly and kind of chestnut brown almost. Okay, for the sake of my sanity let's just call it light brown.

Lunch was a good time. We laughed, ate, and even devised a plan to see each other on our way to classes and such. Hikaru was hilarious, and watching Pavel trip over his words was funny too, even though I would never admit it. We actually had a lot in common even though we both came from different countries.

Dare I say it, but I'm pretty sure that lunch was the moment the four of us became friends.

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><p><strong>AN: So that is how they meet! The next few chapters are going to skip a few years, so we can start getting to the awesome stuff XD No worries, there will be no confusion! <strong>

**Remember to review and all of that good stuff...PLEASE! :]**


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